Finally...a Fragrance That's Good for You

By
Carly Cardellino

Dec 07, 2012

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According to the NPD Group, a leading North American market research company, "fragrance has moved up the ladder as a top gift on consumers' holiday shopping list," and in 2011, 2.8 billion was spent on fragrance alone. Clearly everyone loves perfume. But what if you can't wear it?

Scents, while they may be harmless to most of us, can present a real health hazard to others, triggering allergies and sensitivities to fragrances. We recently sat down with Danielle Raynor, founder of Lavanila Laboratories, who told us that at least 20 percent of people can't wear synthetic fragrance because of the chemicals they're composed of.

Usually those who are allergic probably know it by now, but if you spritz on your favorite scent and all of the sudden you find that the spot you sprayed is breaking out into a rash or you start coming down with a migraine, chances are you could be having a negative reaction to the juice. (We don't suggest self-diagnosing, so call up your doc to have him or her check you out before jumping to any conclusions.)

Sound familiar? To Raynor it does. "I couldn't wear fine fragrances because the chemicals didn't agree with my body chemistry, so I decided to create a line that was made up of essential oils instead," she told us. Her perfume line, Lavanila Laboratories, not only smells just as amazing as any other synthetic fragrance out there, it's also is free of petrochemicals, phthalates, propylene glycol, mineral oils, silicone, synthetic dyes, sulfates, and parabens—and comes in a bunch of scents. Some of our favorites include: Pure Vanilla, Vanilla Coconut, and her latest concoction, Vanilla Blackberry.

Yes, there's a vanilla theme happening here; Raynor has a thing for the sweet, yet musky scent. "It's also a complete man magnet," she says.

But to Raynor, the buck doesn't stop at perfume. Since the company's conception in 2007, she's also rolled out natural deodorant that will actually keep you B.O.-free (we tested it out on a run), an SPF 40 sunscreen, baby body wash—and there's more where that came from that she'll be launching in 2013.

For now, do yourself a favor (whether you're allergic to regular fragrance or not) and pick up one of her formulations. Don't worry, you can thank us later.